Chakka Payasam

 

Background

Summer is here. Summer brings with it two great fruits, both kings – Mango and Jackfruit. Jackfruit is derived from the Malayalam Chakka. So, Chakka is quintessential Kerala. There are many ways to eat Chakka, including the pulp just by itself. Today I prepared Chakka Payasam, following Amma’s instructions verbatim, but for a major change which actually is nothing short of blasphemy.

Ingredients

About 4 - 6 bulbs of jackfruit

1 tbsp white rice

1 cup of jaggery

1 cup of coconut milk

Method

1)      Deseed the jackfruit bulbs and chop them finely.

2)      Cook the rice in 2 glasses of water

3)      Add the chopped fruit when rice has cooked.

4)      Keep cooking till the fruit softens. Additional water may be required.

5)      When the fruit has cooked well and blended with the rice, add the jaggery slowly while stirring continuously.

6)      Add coconut milk when the mixture has cooled a bit. The amount of milk has to be adjusted to get the desired concentration and consistency. I added normal milk (that is the blasphemous part). If adding normal milk, add either hot milk to the cooled mixture or cold milk to the warm mixture; or else there is a danger of milk splitting.